Pattern Hack Archives - Merritts Makes

November 12, 2019November 12, 2019

Reversible Tamarack Jacket

Disclosure: The pattern for this post was provided to me by Indiesew. All opinions are my own.

Goooood morning! Today I’m sharing a project that feels like an amalgamation of my sewing journey. I’ve always found joy in creating and had access to a sewing machine from a young age. However, it wasn’t until I took a few college sewing classes that my love of sewing blossomed. Those sewing classes led me to a magical place called Suppose. It was there that my love affair with fabric began. During my five years working there, I came to love quilting and was serendipitously introduced to the world of indie sewing patterns. There I purchased my first indie apparel pattern: a paper copy of the Grainline Studio Scout Tee. Now, years later, I’m here writing a blog post about another Grainline pattern, the Tamarack Jacket.

Preparing the Patchwork

Over the years, I’ve acquired an unhealthily large stash of scraps. Letting go of beautiful fabrics has never been top priority here. In a moment of creative energy, I began piecing together large scraps in October 2018. Then, I cut them down, pieced them back together, and….. forgot about them for nearly a year. Early this October, the project was resumed and I slowly added scraps one fabric or block at a time.

Once the patchwork reached a size of approximately 60″ x 60″, the Tamarack pattern pieces were placed to determine a cutting layout. Then, I roughly cut around each piece leaving about an inch of extra fabric on all sides. Using the roughly cut pieces I cut batting and backing pieces. Finally, each piece was quilted with straight lines 2″ apart and cut down to its proper size.

Sizing Alterations

According to the size chart, I should be a 4 at the bust and a 10 at the hip. Over the years I’ve noticed that Grainline patterns often include a generous amount of ease. Consulting the finished garment measurements confirmed this observation. In the end, I decided to size up in the bust and arms to provide plenty of room for layering. This led me to sew a straight size 6. My only other sizing alteration would be adding 5/8″ to the sleeve length.

Creating the Wrap Front

The simplicity of this particular “pattern hack” makes it feel like less of a hack and more of a pattern shortcut. An added bonus of a simple wrap front vs. the snap or button closure? A fully reversible jacket. Say “hello” to the Ace and Jig inspired side of my Tamarack Jacket. Want the details on how to hack your own? Let’s do this.

Pattern Preparation

Grab your front bodice pattern piece. Draw a diagonal line connecting the top of the neckline (at the shoulder) to the lengthen shorten line at the center front (view B). Curve line slightly for a smoother look. Remove excess paper to the right of this line. Cut front pieces as indicated. For this version I also chose to curve the bottom of the center front.
Create four belt loops by cutting a piece of binding fabric 1.25″ x 13.” Fold in half and sew along the length with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Leave short ends open and use a safety pin or tube turner to turn right side out. Cut this into four 3″ pieces. Baste belt loops to front jacket pieces on both the inside and outside.
Cut a belt piece that is 3″ wide by desired length (mine was about 62″ long). Use a 1/4″ seam to sew around all edges, leaving a 2-3″ opening for turning. Turn right side out and sew the opening.

Construction

Sew shoulder seams as indicated in pattern step 26. Finish the shoulder seams with bias binding for a clean finish.
Apply bias binding to neckline and front as indicated in pattern step 27. Do NOT apply bias binding to the back bottom piece yet.
Follow pattern step 28. Finish this seam with bias binding.
Sew sides as indicated in pattern step 29. Now, starting at end of one sleeve, use continuous piece of binding to bind the sleeve seam, down the side, across the back bottom, up the other side and across the other sleeve seam. This part is probably the most confusing and time consuming of all. Don’t give up. You’re almost finished.
Bind sleeve hems as indicated in pattern step 30. Hooray! Trim any stray threads and enjoy your finished jacket.

Final Thoughts

Last week I posted a photo of my in progress patchwork. One commenter called it a “love letter to a fabric stash.” This sentiment has stuck with me since reading it and holds true in this Tamarack Jacket. In it I see bits of old projects, stray quilt blocks, and scraps left from gifts made for loved ones; all pieced alongside bits of my own fabric favorites. Each fabric connects me to a moment in time, joining my sewing past and present into a wearable warm hug.

Note: If you haven’t heard the news, Indiesew will be closing up shop and no longer available after November 30th. Read the goodbye announcement here for further details. I’m going to miss the enrichment and inspiration that Indiesew has contributed to the online sewing world and wish Allie all the best in her future endeavors. Thank you Indiesew for being a cherished part of the community and my personal sewing journey.

Thanks for reading!

August 30, 2019August 30, 2019

Frisco Jumpsuit Pants Hack

(Disclosure: I was a tester for the Frisco Jumpsuit which means I received the pattern for free in exchange for my honest feedback during pattern testing. I was not obligated in any way to write a blog post or share about this pattern.)

Hello there! It’s been a minute or two. August has been all about spending time with my son before school started. After nearly a month off of sewing and blogging, I’m feeling recharged and ready to hit the ground running. First up, it’s time I told you about these pants I made back in July. They’re a hack of the newly released Threadbear Garments Frisco Jumpsuit. I’ve been waiting to share this post until I took styled photos of the actual jumpsuit I made during testing. Alas, that doesn’t seem to be happening so I decided to just go for it. Let’s get down to the details.

Fabric

Earlier this year, I made a Five Points Blouse (the one I’m wearing in these photos) using the navy stripe Verona Voile by Telio Fabrics. After a few months of wear, I loved the fabric so much that I decided to order more in a new color. I purchased this deep olive stripe cotton/rayon voile from Fabric.com via Amazon. The fabric feels so lightweight that sometimes I have to double check I’m actually wearing clothing. Basically, it’s a summer dream.

Sizing

During testing I discovered that Leslie’s pattern block happened to fit quite well with few alterations. For this project, I sewed a straight size 10 with 3 inches added to the leg length.

Hacking the Jumpsuit into Pants

This “hack” is actually such a breeze that I feel almost embarrassed to call it a pattern hack. Want to make your own Frisco pants? Just follow the next few steps:

Grab your pattern pieces for the pant legs, waistband, and pockets.
Remove length from the rise. I chose to remove 1″ from both the front and back rise. In a jumpsuit, you sometimes need that extra length for ease of movement, etc. Unless you want your pants to be suuuuuper high-waisted, removing a bit of length is a necessity.
Sew pockets and pant legs as directed in pattern.
Assemble waistband and facing and sew waist tie as directed in pattern.
Place your waistband and waistband facing right sides together. Using a 3/8″ seam allowance, sew the top of the waistband and facing together. Turn right side out and press.
Baste the bottom of your waistband pieces together.
Making sure the outside of your waistband (not the facing) is against the right side of your pants, align notches and attach waistband to pants with a 3/8″ seam allowance. Finish raw edge as desired.
Follow pattern instructions for inserting the waistband elastic and hemming.

Not too difficult, right?

Final Thoughts

Since I still haven’t fallen in love with shorts, dresses and lightweight pants are my lifeline in the summer heat. These Frisco Pants in cloud-like voile were a welcome wardrobe addition. In fact, I’ve gotten at least 10-15 wears out of them since making them in July. My favorite way to style them has been the faux jumpsuit look pictured above. A close second would be worn with my Cottesloe Swimsuit for a day spent near the water. As fall approaches, I’m anticipating the olive color to transition well into the season and look forward to playing around with cool weather styling.

The only thing I’d change in another pair would be removing an extra 1/2″ from the front and back rise. This pair sometimes feels a little long in the crotch. Honestly, that’s the only thing I don’t love about these pants. It’s such a small flaw and hasn’t kept me from reaching for my Frisco Pants every time they’re clean. Overall, I’d call them a successful hack.

Thanks for reading!

June 17, 2019June 17, 2019

Coffee and Thread Madrid Dress Tour

Disclosure: Although the pattern was given to me for participation in this tour, all words and opinions are my own.

Clearly I can’t get enough of Ace and Jig inspired makes because here’s my second one in less than a week (Check out my A+J inspired Zadie Jumpsuit here). Joining the Coffee and Thread Madrid Dress Tour was the perfect opportunity to sew up my own version of a dress I’d been ogling for months (use code ‘madridtour’ for 25% off any Coffee and Thread patterns through June 28th). This required a bit of hacking but, I was up to the challenge. Are you ready for it?

Inspiration

Last fall I was watching Ace and Jig’s Instagram stories when my jaw dropped at upon seeing this version of their Ellis Dress. The pattern mixing and play on scale had me instantly hooked. I saved the photo, vowing to someday make one of my own. Time went by and I had all but forgotten about the dress until I saw Olga’s release of the Madrid Dress. Seeing the pattern reminded me of my dream dress and reignited the fire.

The Madrid Dress pattern isn’t an exact match for the A + J dress, but comes pretty darn close. There are two main differences:

Madrid Dress is a faux wrap style while the A + J dress is a true wrap.
Madrid Dress pattern actually has three tiers for the maxi length (hack details coming later in this post) while the A + J dress has 4.

Difference #1 was actually preferable for me as true wrap dresses sometimes leave me feeling like I’m just one wardrobe malfunction away from accidentally exposing everything to the world. Difference #2 was an easy fix that just required a bit of math which we’ll get to real soon. Overall, they’re pretty similar and the Madrid made for a great starting point.

Fabric

After singing the praises of Anna Maria Horner’s Loominous fabric lines in my last post, I’ll just cut to the chase here and say these 100% cotton yarn dyed wovens are incredible. Dreams are made of these fabrics. This dress uses two fabrics from her Loominous II line. The first is Dotted Line in Cobalt Blue (purchased from Graciebelle Fabrics on Etsy) which has black and pale coral lines stitched into the fabric. This specific fabric was actually the inspiration behind the hand embroidered stitches I added to the back of my Hampton Jean Jacket (here). The second fabric is Tribe in Algae (purchased from Hawthorne Threads), a mint green with stripes of cobalt, forest, and bits of pale pink woven throughout. Together they mimic the play on scale and bold fabric choices included in the inspiration dress.

The only thing that isn’t ideal about these two fabrics is the fact that they’re only 44″ wide. The narrow width meant that I had to order 9 yards of fabric (5 of the blue, 4 of the mint) to determine that I’d have enough of each. Honestly, the price of ordering 9 yards of fabric kept me from making this dress sooner. I hemmed and hawed over spending the money on a dress that likely wouldn’t get as much wear as most practical items in my wardrobe. I spent hours scouring Etsy and online fabric stores looking for the absolute best deals on these two fabrics and was lucky enough to find both for less than $10/yd. In the end, I decided that the dress wasn’t worth making at all if it wasn’t something I loved and that made the cost worth it. This time I threw caution to the wind and sewed a little frosting just for the fun of it.

Sizing

According to the size chart, my measurements fell into a 4 bust, 8 waist, and 10 hip. I started with a size 4 at the bust and graded to an 8 at the waist and below. There’s enough ease in the hips that I didn’t have to worry about grading out to a 10. I also added 1/2″ to the bodice length. As a side note here, the front bodice facing is missing a lengthen/shorten line. add this in by lining your facing piece up with your front bodice piece and marking the lengthen/shorten line. Then add the same amount of length to your facing piece. Since the rest of the sizing alterations happened in the hacking of the skirt, it’s finally time to get down to it.

Hacking the Skirt

Since the maxi version of the Madrid dress has three tiers and I wanted four, it was time to do a bit of math. My exact calculations here are based on a size 8 with a skirt length of 45″, I’ll include the formulas however, so you can do the math for your own custom size.

Determine your desired length by measuring from your waist to the floor (mine was 45″).
Divide the desired length by 4. (Desired length/4) Mine ended being 45/4 coming out to approximately 11.25″ per tier.
Add 3/4″ to the desired tier length to account for 3/8″ seam allowances on top and bottom. I ended up with a total length of 12″ for each tier.
Keep the width of the first tier as drafted, with the only change being to cut off length to fit your new desired tier length.
Measure the width of the 1st tier. To account for seam allowances remove 3/4″ from that width. (1st tier width – 3/4″ = finished 1st tier width). Take the first tier width and multiply this by 1.5. This will give you the finished width of your 2nd tier. Divide the finished width by the width of your fabric. This will tell you how many (desired tier length) strips to cut. Add 3/4″ to the width of each strip to account for seam allowances.
Follow the steps in #5 above to calculate for the 3rd tier, this time using the finished width of your 2nd tier multiplied by 1.5. Again, divide this number by your fabric width to determine the number of needed (desired tier length strips). Don’t forget to add in 3/4″ to the width of each strip for seam allowances.
Again, follow the steps in #5 above to calculate for the 4th tier, this time using the finished width of your 3rd tier multiplied by 1.5. Again, divide this number by your fabric width to determine the number of needed (desired tier length strips). Don’t forget to add in 3/4″ to the width of each strip for seam allowances.
It seams like a lot, but once you get the hang of it, the math is pretty simple. For reference, here’s what I cut out for my size 8 tiers: 2nd tier- 2 strips 12″x 46 and 1/8″ (the blue had to be cut down the length of the fabric instead of the width), 3rd tier- 4 strips 12″ x 34 and 3/4″, 4th tier- 3 strips 12″ by 69 and 7/8″ or 6 strips 12″ by 34 and 3/4″.

There you have it. Three tiers have now become four. Follow construction as instructed in the pattern directions (I did end up attaching the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tiers to one another before attaching them to the finished bodice and first tier).

Final Thoughts

Gosh, it feels delightful to have a dress fit for twirling. It’s been a bit since I made a truly twirly dress and my inner 10 year old girl was squealing with joy while taking these photos. Gathering took approximately a million years but was 100% worth it. I’ve also had my fill of gathering for a bit so I’ll probably stay away from it for a few weeks at least.

Overall, I’m thrilled that this dress turned out how I envisioned. This is not always the case and I took a big gamble purchasing 9 yards of fabric for something that I wasn’t sure would work. My version is fuller than the Ace and Jig inspiration dress but, that just ups it’s twirling factor which is fine by me. Will I make this hack again, probably not because I don’t need more than one bright, fabulously twirly, pioneer chic dress in my wardrobe. Am I satisfied with the end result? Yes, 100%! That’s all I got for you today. Hope you’ve enjoyed reading about this dress as much as I enjoy wearing it!

Want to see more Coffee and Thread Madrid Dress inspiration? Be sure to check out the tour on Instagram by following the hashtags #ctmadriddress and #madriddresstour.

February 5, 2019June 13, 2019

Anna Allen Philippa Pants and Cropped Fringe Dress Top

In the midst of the #sewfancypants craziness last month, I also managed to finish a sixth pair of pants that couldn’t be shared until now. I had the absolute pleasure of testing the newly released Anna Allen Clothing Philippa Pants. You likely already know my obsession with the Persephone Pants so I was thrilled to be selected as a tester for this new pattern.

Pattern Details

The Phillipa Pants are a high-waisted tapered leg pant meant for use with non-stretch bottomweights. The pants are a simple, fuss-free style with rectangular back pockets, back darts, and no front pockets. I opted to use the new zipper expansion (works for Persephone Pants too!) for this pair and the instructions produced a beautifully finished fly front.

Fabric Choice

Last fall, I won this 11.5 oz Cone Mills Denim in Dark Indigo from Imagine Gnats. After years of wearing skinny jeans with a decent spandex content, I was nervous to try making and wearing a pair of tapered jeans without stretch. The denim does tend to relax a bit after a few hours of wear. This makes my Philippa pants quite comfortable, but also gives them a slightly looser fit. If using this fabric, I suggest making your pants just a bit tighter than you’d like so that they’ll fit perfect after a bit of wear.

Fitting

This specific pair was made from the first testing draft of the Philippa Pants pattern, and Anna has made a few changes since then. As such, I can only speak to this pair and not the final pattern. Before the end of the month I will hopefully complete a pair using the final pattern will report back on fit then. I will say that I found the size chart to be fairly accurate. Anna has even included calf and thigh measurements in the finished measurement chart to help sewists decide whether grading is necessary in the legs.

Fringe Cropped Top

Last summer I ordered 12 yards of this gorgeous yarn-dyed woven designed by Anna Maria Horner. After using just over 11 yards for living room curtains, I was left with a little under 1 yard. Sure, I could’ve used it to make something for my son, but I loved this fabric so much that I wanted something for myself. I used my finely tuned pattern tetris skills to squeeze this Fringe Dress Crop top hack out of it. This “hack” isn’t really a hack at all. In fact, all I did was add 8 inches to the bodice length, straighten the hem, and omit the waist darts. I also rounded off the bottom of the front neckline facing instead of having an unnecessary straight piece running down the center. Just a note: If you’ve been gifted with a bust larger than my forever A-cups, and want to use this hack, rotating the waist darts to the side seams might help you achieve less pulling in your final fit.

Once my alterations were made, I simply sewed the top according to the bodice instructions in the Fringe Dress Pattern. I hemmed the bottom by turning it up 1/4″ and then another 1/4″ and topstitching. That’s it. World’s easiest “pattern hack” and a fun, quick sew for all those smaller cuts burning a hole in your stash.

The Outfit

Wearing this outfit makes me feel a combination of 1970’s free spirit and modern mom. Is it the colors? The silhouettes? Now that I’m thinking about it, 1970’s free spirit meets modern mom might just be my fashion goal. Whatever the vibe is, I’m digging it.

Thanks for reading! Check back soon or follow me on Instagram to see what I’ve got up my sleeve for February.

July 19, 2018June 13, 2019

Hacking the Hey June Willamette Shirt into a Dress

Remember when I said (in this post) that I was already planning a fourth Hey June Willamette (pattern here)? Between painting and packing, I managed to squeeze in just enough time for a Willamette Shirt to dress hack. In my last Willamette post, I mentioned that the Willamette is my current pattern obsession. Every time I fall in love with a fabric I think, “Wouldn’t this make a great Willamette?” This was the exact scenario that played out when I set eyes on this fabric from Anna Maria Horner’s Loominous II line. Weeks ago, I was desperately searching Etsy for a continuous 12 yards of another Loominous II fabric I intended to use for curtains. Once I found the desired fabric from La Antigua Textiles this large plaid fabric somehow jumped into my cart as well. When you’re buying 12 yards of fabric, it’s pretty easy to justify the cost of an extra 4 yards. Besides, I had an Etsy gift card that covered the price of this fabric so I can basically pretend it was free, right?

Now, let’s get on to talking about this dress hack. I was inspired by the shape of this dress from Roolee. The boxy shape and minimal gathering are both elements I wanted to include in my latest summer dress. Once upon a time, I regularly wore shorter and more fitted styles but then; I had a child and realized that limited movement was no longer my jam. If I can’t wear something as a house dress, to the park, and to church, then it’s unlikely to find it’s way into my closet. I decided to hack the Willamette for this dress because the collar, cuffs, and yoke detail add interest to the dress and keep it from looking too much like a sack. I, for the record, love a good sack dress, just didn’t want that look for this one.

The actual “hacking” of this pattern was quite simple. Let’s start with alterations made to the top. I removed 3 inches from the length of the cropped version so that the beginning of the skirt would hit around my natural waist. I opted for a button front instead of sewing the the front pieces together at the placket (Tori of The Doing Things Blog talks about her button front version here). One of my favorite details is the box pleat at the back of the dress. Originally, I just pleated the top of the back bodice piece near the yoke. After attaching the skirt, i realized the back needed a bit more shaping to achieve the desired look. The solution was to repeat the box pleat at the bottom center of the back bodice. It was a simple fix, but required some time with my seam ripper. I considered not fixing the issue, but realized it was worth the extra effort to make something I would be proud to wear. I sucked up my pride, made friends with my seam ripper, and got to work removing the skirt. This fix took about an hour to execute and was worth every minute.

Moving on to the skirt. This was such a simple “hack” that it feels almost blasphemous to call it one. Since I wanted only minimal gathering I multiplied the finished width of my front and back bodice pieces (both were right around 20″ with that added back pleat) by 1.4. This gave me 28″. I cut two rectangles 28″ x 34″. I then added inseam pockets to the side seams and sewed the side seams together with a 1/2″ seam allowance. There are approximately one million tutorials for adding inseam pockets, but if you’re unfamiliar with them, this is a good one to check out. Using a basting stitch at 3/8″ and 5/8″ gather the skirt to fit the bodice. Then attach the bodice and skirt right sides together using a 1/2″ seam allowance. Hem the skirt to your desired length and that’s it. You’re done. Seriously, this hack is one of the easiest I’ve ever completed.

In the midst of all the (good) stress and craziness of the last month or so it felt good to sit at my machine and sew this dress purely out of a desire to create. I thoroughly enjoyed squeezing in a bit of time here and there to reconnect with my machine. Two more weeks and we have no choice, but to be done with this moving madness (because our apartment lease will be up). A little time simply creating for pleasure was just what I needed to get me through the next weeks. Looking forward to sharing more with you in my new space.

Thanks for reading! Want to see a different Willamette Shirt to Dress Hack? Check out Michelle’s here. Can’t get enough of Anna Maria Horner’s fabrics? Me either! I’m a total fan girl. Check out other items I’ve made with her fabrics like the Highlands Wrap Dress, Fringe Dress, Butterfly Blouse, Bonn Maxi Dress, and Bonn Shirt.

October 25, 2016June 13, 2019

Bonn Shirt Turned Maxi Dress

Back in September, I had the opportunity to test the Bonn Shirt pattern by Itch to Stitch Designs. Read about it here. I fell in love with the fit of the top, but wanted to do something a bit more dramatic. After making Simplicity 8084 and seeing this dress, the idea for a Bonn maxi dress was born.

Wooden buttons purchased from Arrow Mountain.

While I love a good curve hugging dress, they often aren’t practical for me to wear outside of special occasions. I wanted this dress to be a bit fitted around the bust and fall straight down from the hips. With that silhouette in mind, modifying the Bonn Shirt to a maxi was really quite simple.The Bonn pattern actually includes a knee-length dress option, but modifying the shirt pattern pieces worked better for my specific fit goals. At the hips, I widened the front pattern pieces by 1″ and the back pieces by 1.5″ to give a comfortable amount of ease. I made notches in the pattern to match the front and back pieces at the hips. Once the notches were made, I added about 40″ to the length ( I measured my desired length at the center back and at the underarm seams to determine this). I added the length straight down from the hip line on front and back, continuing the front button placket all the way to the hem. I added the same amount of length to the placket interfacing piece. I love the way my Simplicity 8084 maxi buttons to the knee and used a total of 12 buttons to copy that look.

Modifying the Bonn Shirt pattern turned out to be the least challenging aspect of making this dress. I’ve been working with lots of deadlines and only allowed myself to work on this for an hour or two after meeting my productivity goals for other projects. This led to a lot of late night sewing mistakes.

First, The back dress piece on a loose pin and created a 0.5″ hole right in the middle. Solution number 1: I sliced a 1″ strip out of the back and pieced in a new strip. The wild print is great at hiding my Frankenstein style strip and it’s really not noticeable unless you’re within 10 inches of my back.

Second, I cut the left sleeve completely crooked. Honestly, I don’t even know how it got so crooked. it was off by inches. Solution number 2: This one was easy. I had just enough leftover fabric so I re-cut the sleeve. While this was a simple solution it still added about a half hour to my limited sewing time.

Third, I hemmed the dress in the middle of the night and didn’t have anyone to help me mark the hem. I usually don’t have too much trouble with this, but the maxi length combined with the drape of the fabric made it complicated. It ended up taking about three times as long after I cut the hem at a slight angle. Solution number 3: Keep trying.

Fabric is Helios rayon by Anna Maria Horner

This dress turned out to be such a rewarding project and I’m delighted that I decided to stick with it through the frustrations.It’s the perfect cross between an evening dress and comfortable nightgown, which is exactly what I’d envisioned. I’ve been anxious while considering so many facets of the future and this dress was therapeutic for me. Taking something and making it my own while working through the imperfections was just what I needed. It was a good reminder that mistakes and difficulties can still combine to make something wonderful. Was that too much? Thanks for sticking with me. Here are a few more photos and a sneak peek at my goofy family.